Nebulous Patches
by Frantic Author
Summary: If clothes are at the center of the world, then what does it mean for those who reject them? The Beach has no need for trivialities and fancies; and neither does the Woman with the Scissor Blade. [AU]
1. Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head

**I'VE ALWAYS **hated the rain. I'm sure everyone at the Beach does; when you don't wear very much (if any) clothing, the sting of cold hits much deeper then it would otherwise. It brings winds and storms and turns the whole atmosphere rather unpleasant, to be honest. I'm sure I wouldn't mind it, if we had the benefit of 'warmth' and 'comfort', but here at the Beach, people are a bit paranoid.

Warmth means clothes. Clothes means conglomerates. And conglomerates mean Revocs.

So asking for those meager things – a blanket, a shirt, something to stop you from freezing your ass off – that's not treated as normal. No, that's something _suspicious_. Why do you need a blanket? So you can send off a coded message? Are you checking to see if there's any way for you to bug it so that way your superiors can home in on a location, and bomb the entire place to the ground?

So yeah. You get used to the cold. You can whine and moan all you want; it's encouraged among the foot soldiers, anyways. But higher up? You better nut up or shut up, there's no shipping out back home at the Beach. You enter, and you _stay._And if you leave, then you've got a mission, or you're going to disappear. Names are off the books, you're not even on the parts of the grid that are _off_of it. Any connections to your family?

Gone. Erased. In the eyes of the rest of the world, the people at the Beach don't 'exist'. Parents, friends, relatives; all are either estranged, dead, or part of it. There's no privacy, no fun, and most of all no damn _breaks._When you're part of an organization of terrorists, you don't get a chance to sit back and smell the roses.

Not unless you're burning them to ash.

I glanced out the window, fake as it is, showing a picturesque scene of a field and an apple tree. Hologram, naturally. The Beach is entirely underground, and there are fifteen feet of solid steel holding up the compound, deep down in the earth. But the rain – the rain causes the building to shake and makes my body shiver like I'm a little girl again, being taught how to hold my sword for the very first time.

My fingers absentmindedly danced across the guard of my sword, feeling that cold steel as I remember the very first thing I had learned - to be faster, not stronger. To be skilled, rather than a brute. I would always be smaller than my enemies would be, and that meant I would have to make up for it in ways that they wouldn't be able to guess. I didn't have the brute strength to do that - so instead, I had to be _better._

I'd taken that lesson to heart – I was one of the quickest of the Beach's close combat operatives, even if my mid-long range was absolute shit. But I had backup for that, Beach operatives always paired off in cells of two. 'Two heads are better than one' is the reason they state, but there's always that underlying threat. If one of you betrays us, then the other will kill you. There are no close friends down here, more like acquaintances who aren't openly fighting. That was what it meant to live deep underground, seeing the same faces and the same scenery every day until a mission.

And this was my home. I lived for the Beach. I fought for the Beach. And I would _die _for the Beach, for all those who couldn't fight for themselves, or who didn't even know that a fight was going on. It's not like any of the conglomerates would openly state that we had stolen tech, or plans, or destroyed buildings. No, it was all industrial accidents and corporate sabotage. Only us and them knew the real answer, and it's not like either were willing to speak out.

This wasn't an open war we were engaged in. It was a _silent _war. The deadliest kind – where if you're compromised, you might as well kill yourself. It'll be a quicker death then if you're captured by Revocs - or worse, if the Beach gets you back.

I looked up at the steel ceiling, tracing the endless arches with my eyes. crisscrossing copper and iron interwove itself in between each arch; I heard the building sigh every time the lightning crashed onto it, and felt the wind beat down on my face from high above. The surface – that's where I'd dreamed of going as a kid.

When I'd gotten there, I'd realized something that nobody had the heart to tell me.

_People lie._The surface wasn't beautiful, there weren't fields and flowers and there were no sounds of that happy, peaceful city that I'd heard so much about. It was a dark and dreary place, with constant clouds and gloom as the populace was subjugated by corporations and conglomerates who threw product after product at them. It was a world of 'consume or be consumed', both literally and metaphorically.

What use were you to Revocs, or Walmart, or Microsoft if you couldn't consume? You were dead weight on a dead world. Trash, to be thrown aside into the heaps of those that had been chewed up and spat back out by these behemoths that ravaged our culture and destroyed our individuality. If you ran out of the money that was given to you to spend on their products before the time was up, then it was time for you to leave. Back to one of the outer cities, where gangs reigned supreme and nobody had anything but the clothes on their backs.

And even those were a 'generous donation' from who else but _Revocs. _Even when you had nothing, you couldn't escape from them. Not unless you went outside of the ordinary options, and chose something else. Or had it chosen for you, like so many of us had.

That was _The Beach. _Another option that wasn't previously mentioned, where you were the sum of your parts, not the sum of your pocket. It wasn't comfortable, it certainly wasn't pleasant, but it was better than dying like a rat in the streets with the rest of the unwashed, broken masses. It was a family, in a way, but not a nice one. It made you strong, it made you paranoid, but most of all, it made you _free._

No more corporations. No more clothes made by machines for humans so deep in their routines they might as well _be_machines. No more corporations and conglomerates bearing down on you everyday of your life, for the rest of your life, telling you what to do, what to wear, and how to live. There was kind of ecstasy in that sort of freedom, an unbelievable feeling that welled up inside me every now and then when I went on a mission, causing my fingers to curl tighter around my sword and a grin to cover myself. That was what it meant to be part of the Beach, to be so _fucking _free that you could do any and everything and still have more and more leftover.

It was invigorating to some, and a weight crushing down like a ton of bricks on others. I loved the feeling, but I had seen the downcast, gloomy looks in the cafeteria every now and then. They stared at me with dead eyes and asked me questions I couldn't answer.

_"What is our purpose?"_

_"Why are we here?"_

_"Why do we exist?"_

I never answered. Sometimes they stayed, taking the most dangerous missions and doing the tasks nobody wanted to. Other times, they killed themselves. And sometimes, they _vanished_. Just like the traitors and those who asked too many questions; carted off to God-knows-where in the middle of the night, never to be seen or heard from again. Ask about them, you'll be told not to ask questions. Ask _again_ and you get your first warning - a talk from your superior officer about how important it is to show your loyalty to the Beach. Third time?

I've never seen anyone after they'd asked for a third time. They vanished, just like those they were trying to find. And the cycle repeated itself.

We didn't get many questions, to be honest. After one person you know vanishes without a trace, nobody really wants to be the next one; doesn't matter if they were lovers or best friends. Everyone's the same in the end, the most important person in their world is _themselves._ And I've never exactly been part of the disappearing acts, myself. Partner said I was too emotional for them, I'd get sappy and do something dangerously stupid.

I punched him in the face and told him I'd see him on our next mission. He can't talk to me like that, he's not Teach. He didn't show me where my hands went on a sword, or hold me when I slit my first throat, or tell me it was alright when I had to kill my first partner. What did it matter if he thought I'd do something stupid? He was just another face in the crowd, most of the time. It was just that sometimes he stood a bit further out, and told me that it was time for wetwork.

My partner and I don't click. We're not like two peas in a pod, or good friends. We don't eat lunch together and share secrets. We work together, and we're _good _at it. He's got the range to watch my back, and I've got the talent to make sure he can plant the explosives without getting interrupted.

Get in, get out. Nice and easy, just like the Beach wanted. We weren't the best they had, but I was confident we were high enough up there to be considered decent contenders.

I stood up, stretching my back to shake away the pain as I peeled myself off the cold wall I had been waiting on for at least an hour. It wouldn't do to look bad in front of the Council - they could make or break a member of the Beach, even this late in the game. And I had no plans on being broken.

A voice crackled over the loudspeaker, and I glanced up at the small black speaker located a little ways up the wall. That scratchy, nasally voice of our dear leader spoke in a long, whining hiss, a sound that was like nails on a chalkboard to my ears. "Enter, Operative _RM23._"

I walked towards the door, feeling a bit anxious about the utter _lack_of noise in the room. The Beach always had at least some noise, even if it was just the grunts of training. The only sound in my ears was the tap of my bare feet on the cold floor. It set me on edge, how the gray room completely silent once the loudspeaker shut off. I had it on good authority that I wasn't going to vanish - I was an excellent operative. I didn't ask questions, I didn't complain too much, and I did my job. I did it _well_, because that's what Teach had always told me to do.

The black doors were cold to the touch, and when my fingers brushed one they opened with a slow, grating sound as metal scratched against metal, making me wince until it faded away just as quickly as it came, and I hurried inside the room. Wouldn't do to keep our brave, noble council waiting, would it?

The doors closed behind me, and I was left in a pitch black room, slowly waiting for my eyes to adjust to the emptiness inside of it. I could see the outline of a series of chairs as I walked forward, hoping that I didn't trip or fall on anything as I attempted to blindly make my way to the center.

"Stop walking," a voice said, booming and loud in the quiet, dark room. I'd heard that when one sense was taken away, others grew sharper. I'd never had it proven so thoroughly though; the voice was so loud I immediately stopped in mid-step, completely frozen for a moment.

"Operative _RM23_. Partner to _TK78. _Members of the cell, _RM101TK_. You have successfully completed 53 sabotage missions, 27 ambushes, and your cell holds the record for most successful rescues, currently seven above cell _JC148MB_."

I clicked my tongue, my eyes narrowing. Didn't know that those two had been so hard at work lately. I'd have to talk to my Partner about that after this; we can't be getting caught out by _Jirai_, of all people. That was just embarrassing.

Whispers bounced around the room, and I caught strands of syllables and words; never enough to put anything together, of course. That was how the Council worked, they were trying to keep me off-guard, catch me on my toes, so that they would see how I reacted. I wasn't having any of it, straightening smartly as I stood alert, my hand jumping up to salute an invisible man as I stared at nothing at all straight ahead. "Yes sir! We're very proud of our work, sir!"

"Good, very good," the man responded, his voice deep and low, like the rumble in a dragon's stomach. "You show much promise, _RM23. _More so than most of our… lesser, candidates."

Candidates? I chewed the inner part of my lip with some apprehension. The last time I'd heard of candidates, Teach had ruffled my hair, and told me it was no big deal.

That was five years ago.I hadn't seen him since.

"_RM23_, you are hereby assigned your mission. You are to enter a deep cover operation at Honnou City. If you see _AK46_, you are not to speak to him. You are not to be seen around him. You are to investigate him, and discover if he is compromised."

A pause in the speech. I felt a bead of sweat roll onto the hand that now felt so rigid against my forehead.

"And if so, you are to eliminate him." The sound of paper shuffling was all I could hear. There were no whispers. Of course there weren't; they were all staring at _me._

It was a test. Of my loyalty to the Beach, of my _resolve _for it. I clenched my jaw, standing all the straighter, even as my heart pounded in my chest. "Understood sir. If… if _AK46 _is a threat, I will try my very best to eliminate him."

Ha. As if I could. I'd heard the stories, and there was little to no chance that if he'd turned traitor, I'd be the one being eliminated. Teach was the best of the best. He could do it all - close range, long-range, espionage, all-out attacks - he knew everything. And he'd taught me everything.

A bead of sweat trickled down the back of my neck. What kind of test was this? Teach wouldn't go traitor, he was so close to the center of the Beach that I joked he'd been _born_a nudist. And he'd winked at me, ruffled my hair and told me that I was the one who was born that way.

That man had turned traitor? I doubted that with every fiber of my being. My gut, my heart, my _head_, all of them screamed that this was a lie, and that the Council was trying to test my desire for promotion, or _something._But the lack of answer, the murmur of approval that echoed around the chamber told me otherwise. This wasn't a test, or a joke, as if the Council could _tell_jokes. This was as real as the leather sticking to my back, and the weapon at my side.

A bundle was thrown at me, and I caught it automatically. It was soft to the touch, and I froze as my fingers rubbed it - _silk_. Where had the Council even acquired this? It was hard enough for those in cities to acquire clothing of this quality, let alone anyone who was as deep underground as we were.

"This is a deep cover operation, _RM23. _You are to be enrolled at Honnouji Academy as a transfer student. You are not above average, you are not below average. You are not inclined to any particular club, unless approached first, at which point you will think about it and join if it will aid you in our goals. You are, in a phrase, normal. Is that clear, _RM23?_"

I swallowed the lump in my throat, shoving the throbbing in my chest deeper inside. It wouldn't do to be discarded _now_, not when I was already assigned the mission. That would mean reassignment, and worse, reprogramming. Can't have an at-risk operative with sensitive information. "Crystal, sir."

I unbuckled the leather, letting it fall to the ground. It was time to change. I had to get reaccustomed to the feeling of clothes of this quality, and the feeling of wearing clothes at all. I stopped for a moment, and chastised myself in my head, but didn't pull off the glove that Teach had given me before he'd left. It was stupid. Sentimental. But I couldn't pull off that damn red glove, and left it on my hand as I threw on the shirt and pulled up the skirt, listening with one ear as the Council member continued speaking.

"Remember, you are no longer _RM23_. If discovered, you will deny all knowledge and slit your own throat upon capture. You are a non-entity in Nudist Beach until you return."

A pause, as I fastened the buttons on my skirt, placing my weapon in a silver case.

"Is that clear, Matoi Ryūko?" I looked up at the man, so dimly visible in the dark room, my eyes finally adjusting to the light.

"Perfectly," I said with a drawl, a slow grin growing on my face. As I waited impatiently for the door to open, the case thrown over my shoulder, I turned back for a moment. "Oh, and I'm not just any old operative. I'm the _Woman with the Scissor Blade. _I don't _fail _missions."

And with that, I left the steel halls of the Beach, and headed to a surface where rats roamed and humans ravaged.

The first thing that hit me was the stench; like tar and corpses mixing together in a vat of acid, that sizzling smell that burned my nostrils and made my eyes water. It left a bad taste in my mouth, like vomit that you had to swallow back down, a stench that made me gag the instant it started to waft downwards. The surface was anything but 'nice', it was a vestige of a bygone time. Where there were once brilliant, shining buildings, there was only the wreckage left behind - a vast plain of dilapidated homes and the old foundations that had once held them up. Even then, I could imagine that it had looked nice, at one point.

If not for the trash. There was a reason the Beach hadn't been discovered - we hid in the least likely place of all. The Pits. Nobody went to the Pits unless they had to, to scavenge for the remnants of food or clothes, or even a bit of cloth for a blanket. This was the dumping grounds for _everyone_. Conglomerates, corporations, rich snobs - they left everything they no longer wanted here, and liked to pretend it didn't exist. There were miles of the stuff, and no one to manage it. The perfect hiding place for an organization like Nudist Beach; you could search the Pits for _weeks _and not find any sign of human life.

I stepped off of the platform that took me up, idly watching the clean steel vanish behind the vat of trash and waste that was above the Beach's hideout, before turning to face my surroundings. It was quieter than the last time I'd been here; darker as well. Pitch as black as the smokestacks that huffed and puffed with all their might lazily floated in the air like a _smog, _and I lifted a hand to cover my mouth, unless I wanted to die before I could even find a bus out of this miserable place.

I slowly trudged through what felt like miles of garbage, shuddering every time I felt my new shoes squish against something soft, the trash sometimes towering higher than I could see. I'd imagine it would have been colorful at one point - all the trash mixing together to create some revolting looking monstrosities - but now, now it was nothing but grays and blacks. Rain poured down, making my clothes stick hard against my skin, and I knew they were collecting grime and dust just by virtue of being _around _this stuff.

Good. A grime-covered girl with a disgusting case wouldn't attract much attention on a bus - if anything, I'd be avoided for fear of 'contaminating' my betters. It didn't make me feel any less disgust, watching as the mud and trash slowly began to stick to my clothes and skin. I almost idly dragged the silver case that held my weapon across the enormous heaps of waste as I walked, watching the muck accumulate far too quickly as I made my way for the one area of the Pits that was 'technically' open to the public. It would take a bit of time; after all, the Pits was an enormous area, constantly growing - I could see trash being dumped even as I walked, mountains of old toys and secondhand clothes thrown out because something newer was coming out.

A squeak came from below me, and my eyes glanced past a small bear that had been tossed aside - or something that had once been a bear, at least, although now it resembled a dying animal more than anything. With fur that had once been brown instead of that disgusting, faded white of old things, with two ears instead of half of one. With eyes, rather than a hole where the stuffing was poking out.

I kept walking, but now my eyes were more focused, having adjusted to the rancid stench of the Pit. An old, broken watch was hanging off the edge of a steering wheel, still brightly flickering until I ran my case past it, and watched it fall to the ground, knowing that it would be slowly covered by more watches as time went on.

The Pits would exist until there was no longer a 'need' for the Pits to exist. As long as there were conglomerates, there would be the Pits. This was a place for old and broken things that had nowhere else to go, everything that was casually tossed aside by the populace.

I grabbed an old, worn black jacket off of the top of a pile, shrugging it on, my lip curling as I felt the warm wetness of the inside settle on my skin. It had a zipper, and that meant it would make me look _different _then I would in Honnou City. I wouldn't be 'the dirty girl from the Pits', because once I washed off the dirt and grime, I would be one of _them. _The consumers, who had the honor of actually being in a city, rather than out in one of the many districts of Kanto or Osaka. It was a distinction that many missed, being so caught up in the stench of their own wealth to realize what that meant.

The districts didn't have many shops. Not much of a place to buy products, to _consume _whatever was spat out. In their own arrogance, they fell prey to the hands that fed them, that clothed them and owned them. Thinking themselves above being controlled like so, they bought the products. They ate conglomerate food. They slept in conglomerate beds. They played in conglomerate parks. Was it any wonder that they were so completely and utterly owned by these corporations? By Revocs and its ilk?

Of course not. It was ridiculous to think anyone could go through their lives without once encountering, and thus consuming, one of the behemoths of our 'culture', as loathe as I am to call it that. They were everywhere, and the moment you thought you were safe is when they caught you off-guard, and you were eaten with the rest of them.

I smile, feeling the freshened air through my teeth as I see the bus stop in the distance, around two hundred feet away from the entrance to the Pits. I stopped for a brief moment, inhaling a deep breath as that stench of the old and thrown-out faded away for a clean scent.

It was still raining, and I heard my feet go _splat _as I walked towards the bus stop, the rain washing a bit of the grime away, but not enough to make me look anywhere near 'clean'. I was still what would easily be misconstrued as a scavenger in the wastes between districts; it was perfectly acceptable for me to get on a bus. I was wearing _clothes _after all. That meant there was no way I could be part of Nudist Beach, at least according to those who could choose whether or not I would be allowed to ride the bus.

As I stood next to a single signpost in the middle of a wasteland of concrete, I stared up at a sky filled with dark and gloomy clouds, feeling the rain plaster my hair against my face. My lips twitched for a moment, as I could almost hear Teach's voice telling me what all those lights, so far off in the sky meant. The princess, the dragon, and the archer - all those beautiful, shining stars that I would never be able to see again, behind the black vats of smoke and ash that the factories bellowed out as easily as clouds moved through the air.

"Hope you're doing alright Teach," I murmured to the sky, closing my eyes as I leaned against the sign, feeling more than a tad annoyed by the unending rain, and how it made my jacket stick so closely to my skin. I could almost feel the revolting inside latching onto my arms. "I don't think I'd be able to carry out what they wanted, if you've turned on us."

It was quiet for a time, the only sound in my ears the endless spatter of rain as it hit the ground. I hated the rain. Hated it like I hated Revocs. Like I hated my father. It was cold, wet, and chilled you to the bone. No matter how hard I tried, I could never muster that _love _of the rain Teach had, that joy he felt when it rained. He said that the rain was a cleansing thing, and that one day it would come and wash away all our foes away, and leave only the bright dawn of a new day behind it.

I could never bring myself to believe that. Nothing was ever that simple, there was only the weight of your sword on your back and the strength of your arm. That was how you changed the world - not by waiting for a miracle, and hoping someone would save it for you. It was by _our _hands the world would live, and by ours that the world would die. There was no middle ground or room for an argument, that was just the way it _worked_. It baffled me how someone as idealistic as Teach could get so far in an organization like Nudist Beach, of all things.

The distant rumble of an engine made my eyes jolt open, and I stood upright, peering into the distance as the rain poured down in the midst of the storm, and the wind whipped around me like a knife at my throat. The screeching of tires, and that smell of metal and smoke that accompanied the bus roared at me, and a hiss of heat blew into my face as the doors open, and I peered up at the driver.

He was more of a thug than a man. A bus driver had to be, after all, when you criss-crossed all over Japan and went from cities to the Districts all the way out to the _Pits._ When you were way out in the middle of nowhere, people didn't give a damn whether you lived or died. He had a vicious looking scar that almost made his face look like it had been cut in half, and wore a hat that showed hints of grey hairs underneath. He wasn't clean shaven, but he didn't have a beard either, it was one of those haphazard cuts that you normally see on teenaged boys, or people who just don't _care _anymore.

"You a scavenger?" His voice was coarse and low, like sandpaper to my ears. "Got any good loot?"

I shook my head slowly, trying to look regretful as I pulled out the most useful piece of equipment I'd ever gotten from The Beach - an identification card. It didn't say much, just my name - Matoi Ryūko - my age, and my occupation.

Oh, and of course, my identification number, which registered me as an upstanding citizen of society to the enhanced eyes of public servants. The bus driver briefly looked down the card, before he raised an eyebrow.

"_You're _transferring? To Honnouji? You must be smarter than you look, kid. Better off, too." He handed it back to me, jerking a finger towards the back. "Go _all _the way down there. Don't want your smell scaring off any potentials, got it?"

I nodded, hefting my case over my shoulder once again as I made my way to the very back of the bus, sitting down next to a window as I felt the metal hum underneath my feet and begin its trek. There weren't many people on the bus right now, especially not when we were this far out. It would fill up once we got closer to the cities, and then it would be _bursting _when we were finally heading to Honnou City.

The window was covered a thin film of rain drops, slowly cascading down till they hit the metal that was between the glass and the frame of the bus itself. I shivered a bit, suddenly feeling the cold deep to my bones in my wet, dirty clothes and closed my eyes, letting the lull of the bus rock me to sleep.

It was a long way to Honnou, after all.


	2. I Am Made Of Chalk

My eyes slowly unwelded themselves from the lower lids as I felt someone poking me in the arm, rather hard. I looked up, only to see a rather revolting looking older women standing above me, staring brusquely at my form.

"It's time for you to _leave_," she said, her nasally voice grating on my every half-awake nerve. "You've been sleeping on that spot for at least twenty minutes, and the driver absolutely _refuses _to leave before you get off. I'm a very important person, I have _things _to attend to! I demand you leave this bus at once!"

I yawned, peeling my head off of the window, feeling how matted my hair had become over the course of my slumber. My eyes, still blinking away the last remnants of slumber, stared at the woman.

As with most of the higher-ups of this new world, she was dressed to impress - although who, I had no idea. With legs like stumps attached to a body shaped more like a log then anything else, she really couldn't pull off the dress she was wearing, made of finely woven silk and as white as the driven snow. Her face was like a old dog's, all flabby and drooping downwards in a constant frown.

"...Fine. Let me get my stuff." I hefted my metal case over my shoulder and stood, watching her nose curl upwards at my stench. I was more surprised she'd even bothered to _personally_ demand I leave - most of the upper class preferred to not interact with us 'lower beings' if they could help it. We were like ants to an anteater, just something casually dealt with, and never truly acknowledged. Do you acknowledge it when you step on a bug? Do you feel anything other than disgust at its newfound presence under your foot?

Of course not. That was a ridiculous notion, completely and absolutely. I certainly didn't notice when I flicked a speck off of the leather of my old outfit - why would I bother to check for any of those I considered under me? Her curling lip was indicative of a much larger problem, one that wouldn't be solved through violence, but through _ideas. _I was never good at those sort of things, changing the mind of another person requires something more than just being good with your tongue. It requires charisma. Talent. The ability to turn your thoughts into words. I had trouble expressing my desire for a sandwich.

As I slowly made my way to the front of the bus, I idly noticed the glares of frustration and revulsion being tossed my way - it had probably made the rounds about the damn thing that they were waiting for someone who had gotten on at the _Pits_. What a disgusting person, how _dare _the driver wait for her! What a waste of space.

What a waste of life.

I stopped as I reached the front of the bus, shifting back and forth a bit nervously. I had no idea what to say to the bus driver. He must have been driving through dangerous areas like the Pits for at least five years, and he looked hard as stone. So why had he bothered to wait for me? I wasn't anyone important, if anything he might lose his _job _because he decided to wait for me. I was the face of poverty and uselessness in the eyes of the rest of the world. Out here, I wasn't _RM26_, the high-class operative of Nudist Beach, who went on wetwork missions and came back without a scratch. I wasn't even Matoi Ryūko, the transfer student. I was less than a 'face in the crowd' - I was a pit of _tar _that dragged down everything around it.

"...Thanks," I murmured, my voice almost catching in my throat, as dry as it was. I licked my lips, trying to stall for time. "I appreciate it."

He grunted, giving my a look with his unscarred eye, a smile forming on his lips, one made of dirty teeth and gaps. "S'nothin' personal, kid. I like ta remind those'uns every now and then that _they _don't get ta tell me when my bus leaves. I pick it myself."

I stared at him for a moment, collecting my thoughts at how someone could be so bafflingly stupid. "That's… good. Really good. Excellent."

A frown briefly flickered across my lips as I stepped off the bus, and felt the heat of the day blast across my face, as warm and humid as the desert. My disgusting jacket stuck even closer to my body, and I ached to remove it, but my thoughts were too busy whirling around that driver. He had no reason to wait for me, if anything he had every reason to storm up to the back and kick me off the instant we hit Honnou City, if only so that he wouldn't get a complaint from the Academy about my absentee nature - a complaint that might end up in one of their legendary Executions. It wasn't worth the ire and frustration of the upper class to wait on someone who he had no reason to believe was anything other than a scavenger from the Pits. It was strange, and the thought dwelled on my mind as I waved my ID card at the gates of the city. The machine at the gate whizzed for a moment, before a soothing female voice burst to life as clear as a bell, calmly stating facts that I already knew.

"_Error: Not Registered as a Resident of Honnou City. Please await for the arrival of the correct authorities for disposal. Error: Not Registered as a…"_

I waited impatiently for the card to do its _actual _job - create my identity inside the system. It wasn't difficult, but it would take a bit of time to redirect the Disciplinary Committee to a different part of the city. So while I waited, I looked around.

Honnou City was a gated community, in a more literal sense than most places. It had walls - walls that stood at least twenty feet high. They were monstrous things, brightly shining in the desert sun, and I squinted involuntarily as I looked upwards, seeing nothing but that imposing metal towering over me. It made sweat begin to bead on my forehead, and I hastily wiped it off, not wanting to look the least bit out of place inside these walls.

The walls served more purpose than one, after all. With walls that high and sleek, they were definitely unscalable. I should know - the Beach had tried more than once to climb the things. There was a reason that Honnou City was impenetrable, and it was how the walls _worked._Why drop off a new member of your glorious utopia outside the walls?

Because if they couldn't get in, they would die. Already I could feel the heat begin to affect me, and it was still early in the day. By the time that bright, hot sun hit its peak, those walls would start to reflect even more. And they'd point right at me, bringing more heat down, and it there wasn't much water to be found out in this hot heat. You weren't allowed on a bus unless you had an ID Card, and the buses don't often go by Honnou - it's not a capital, it's an _academy _for the most part. And it had everything it really needed behind those massive walls.

My jacket was hot and itchy as I tapped my foot and clicked my tongue, before finally the voice hitched for a moment, and the words scrambled into static. "_Error: Not Registabvenaszx… Welcome [Matoi Ryūko]. We Hope You Enjoy Your Stay At Honnou City!"_

My lips slowly turned into a grin as I watched those blinding walls slowly open, a dull sound like the crashing of waves on rock echoed through my ears as they opened to make a small entrance - barely thin enough for a broad-shouldered man to walk through, but fine for me and my case. I slipped inside, almost sighing as the cool shade washed away the memories of that burning desert.

The walls were like a prison of their own, encasing me in surroundings made of darkened metal and reminding me of the Beach far too much. It was a long walk to the exit, to. This was what it meant to be part of Honnou City - very, very few people actually _leav e_compared to the capitals of Revocs and other conglomerates, where you may come and go as you please. It was less of an Academy and more a fortress, a behemoth of culture and learning that operated independently from the rest of the world.

An awful lot more espionage though - corporate and otherwise. Everyone wanted a piece of the tech at Honnou City. Even that scanner at the front was high quality for the rest of the world, the kind of tech people would _kill _for. And Honnou would kill to keep it as their own, too.

I struggled not to break into a run. It was like the walls were closing in on me, slowly but surely creeping closer towards the edges of the case swung over my shoulder. It was a trick, of course. They didn't actually want to crush those coming and going from the city, few as they were. Those few were usually fairly important; after all. People who had power that I could barely even begin to _comprehend_, let alone believe.

Could a single piece of clothing really make that much of a difference?

In the distance, I saw a small spark, tiny and far away, but it made me sigh in relief. Sunlight, at last. A small glimpse of freedom from this dying, claustrophobic place that I'm in. My pace, loathe as I am to admit it, slowly increased. I was tired of the dark, tired of the warmth, and tired of these damn walls in this _prison _shaped like a walkway.

So I ran. My arm holding my metal case fell to my side, and I _ran _as fast as I could, feeling my jacket fly behind me as I accelerated, the wind hitting me was absolute bliss, like a shower after days of being covered in sand and dust as I ran towards the light. It was stupid, completely and utterly. Absolutely foolish, and if anyone had seen I would have been immediately identified as a _threat_. As someone who didn't belong, who hated the confinement that they masqueraded as 'freedom', as something that we should covet and desire.

My breath caught in my throat, and I felt my lungs burn as I ran for that single light, my arm carrying a metal case growing heavier and heavier as I sprinted. As it grew closer, I didn't feel relief, I felt something approaching apprehension, and I spurred myself to go even faster. If there was anyone at the end waiting for me, then I'd _smash _through them, taking them out on my way to the other side.

The light grew larger and brighter, and I squinted, realizing that I was going far too fast to slow down now, and gritted my teeth for an impact. I couldn't see a thing, and I had no way of knowing what awaited at the end of this endless corridor - an ambush? It certainly made sense, if anyone caught a sign of me before I'd made it to my destination and had a chance to establish myself, then I would be found out as a spy with ease, there was no question about it. I wasn't a legal entry to the city, more like a blatant and egregious waste of resources, arrogant to the point of disbelief in my way of entry.

I burst out of my lonely cell at top speed, and smashed into the ground without missing a beat, feeling dirt and soil hit me before I could even think about what was in them. Letting out a groan of pain, I flipped over, staring up at the crisp blue sky, without even a single cloud in it. My hand groped around for a moment before clenching around the metal case that held my weapon, and I made a mental note to ask _someone _to make the damn thing less noticeable. It was my main way to fight, and the thing was so iconic that it had become my name. _The Woman With The Scissor Blade._

The sky was so clear that I ached to just lay still for a little while longer, and let it all go. I stopped caring. About the Beach's requirements, Teach's alleged defection, or this city's inhabitants. It was just me and that endless blue. I reached out with one of my hands, and then sighed - a red glove with a black skull emblazoned on it peered back at me with all the authority of god himself.

"No time to waste huh…?" I murmured to myself, staring at the simplistic clash between red and black on my hand, turning it around in the air. "Alright then."

I stood up, not bothering to brush myself down, and took in my surroundings. When I'd said Honnou City had everything, that was more of an assumption then a fact. I didn't know that the city would take me so _literally._

Farmland. That's all I could see - for miles and miles, behind those massive curved walls. There were figures way out in the distance carrying tools that I couldn't really make out, and all I could think about was the Beach. They didn't have farms like this, I'd never seen _anything _on this sort of scale in my life.

My knowledge of farms were dark pink lights in long, narrow rooms, with hundreds of plants all growing at once. It required special material to even enter, and decontamination was necessary upon exit. Farms were dark, dreary places in my mind, where you hid something you didn't want others to know about. It wasn't anything like this.

Plants of every shape and color were growing all around me, and I could only look on in awe as I slowly walked forward, my head darting every which way as I looked at vegetables under normal light, growing under the _sun_. There was no eerie guardian watching over every plant meticulously, and there certainly was no glaring cook waiting impatiently for one to be done, so they could throw it on a plate. They were all just… _there. _Waiting for someone to take one.

It felt impossible. I stopped for a moment, staring at a _tree. _A real, honest-to-God, _tree_. It was just there, with nobody watching after it, and no sign telling me the history, reminding me of the crimes of our forefathers. It was just there. An enormous, absolutely majestic thing that made my mouth slightly open in shock at it. Branches splattered with green and red stretched towards the sky, and apples dangled from several of them - I'd never tasted an apple before. Only the upper echelons of the Beach even got to _see_the single apple tree, and nobody ate the fruit from it. It was a grim reminder of what we had lost, and what we had to regain.

I reached out towards one of the apples, but drew my hand back abruptly. It wouldn't be right. I couldn't take food from those who had nothing, or risked everything just to eat. I was content to stare at the tree, and leave it for those who deserved it.

Even if my stomach ached and my mouth watered at the thought.

I turned to leave, but a hand grabbed me, and I froze. Had I been found out? Was this the end of the line for me, so close and yet so far from my goal? But when I looked at my assailant, it wasn't anyone important.

Just a short, pink-haired girl, wearing the same clothes as everyone else, giving me a sly grin. The sleeves of her dirt-coated jacket were rolled up as far as they could go, and she had on a hat with what looked like a skull emblazoned on it. Her eyes glinted mischievously in the sunlight, and I shifted uncomfortably as she held onto my jacket. "You can take one, you know."

"Eh? N-no, I was just looking." I stammered out a response, cursing my luck. If I was called a thief _now_, then what would happen when I was actually inside the city?

"What's that?" the girl asked, her tone slightly mocking. She dropped her grip on my jacket as she leaned against a rake that was far too tall for her. "You're brand new. You've been staring at that tree for at _least _two minutes, and you haven't even tried to take one. Where _were_you before you came here, _Tokyo?_" she laughed, and it was a grating sound because I knewshe was making fun of me. But then she smiled - a bright, warm smile, and plucked an apple herself, handing it off to me. "Here. Take it, Kiryūin-sama doesn't run this city like Osaka or any of those holes in the ground. It's free."

I took the apple hesitantly, rolling it over in my hands. "Free?"

The girl nodded, winking at me. "Of course! Everyone helps out on the farm, so everyone can take it! That's how the world works, right? "Free as the trees and the birds in the sky". Everything has a price, but that doesn't mean you can't _trade _something for it…?" She looked at me curiously, and I nodded slowly in comprehension.

She wanted my name. I hesitated. Names were a much more important thing in the Beach - I hadn't had one for most of my life. I was _RM23_, the daughter of _IM0_. An important figure, to be sure, but I wasn't important until I had proved myself. Nobody had a real 'name' in the Beach, just nicknames and fakes. I hadn't found out my own until I was nine years old, and I'd treasured it ever since. There were two people in the world who I had told my name, and one of them was _myself._

"...Matoi," I said, slowly, as if I was tasting the word for the first time. "Matoi Ryūko."

"...Ryūko-chan," she said like I hadn't stumbled over my own name, and I flushed at the way she casually used it. "In here, the world's _different_. You can work your way to the top from the bottom, if you can prove yourself." She smiled again, that smile that was far too bright and happy for anyone living under someone who I'd heard was as dangerous and deadly as Kiryūin Satsuki. She tilted her head in curiosity, before a sinister smile grew on her face. "Ohohoho… it's not that you didn't _know_, it's that you don't know where to _go_, isn't it, Ryūko-chan?"

"Wh-what!? N-no I know where I'm going! It's… it's um…" I floundered for a moment, before pointing at the next circle of walls, several miles away. "Over there! Yes, I'm definitely going that way!"

The girl wrinkled her nose at the direction I pointed. "Ehhh? You're going to the _slums_, Ryūko-chan? You're new to the city and all, but I can't just let you go that way. Even _No-Stars _like you don't deserve to live in there; nobody does."

"Well I'm not _living_ there, not exactly. I'm just… meeting someone there. A friend of the family."

I supposed that _technically_, that wasn't a lie. My contact in the slums was supposedly a friend of the Beach even if they were a bit… off, compared to most of the Beach. That's why they were all the way out here, and not even in a position of importance - more of a go-between for Teach and whoever he gave his information to. Teach could have done it himself, most likely, and I had no clue why the contact was even _here. _Did they enjoy running a bar in the worst part of this city?

"Weeeeeeell… I _guess _that might be true, Ryūko-chan," the girl said, giving me a suspicious look that sent a shiver down my spine, despite her small stature. "You're not just trying to get out of spending time with me, are you? I mean, we've only _juuuuust _met! We have so much to talk about!"

I wasn't very good at talking to people, and this was reaching my absolute limit for social interaction with anyone who I didn't call Teach. I turned to walk away, shrugging my case back over my shoulder. "L-look, I'm a transfer student, so I'll see you at school, alright? I just need to get settled in, and drop off my things first."

"Oooooooh?" she immediately fell into step with me, and I gritted my teeth as I saw her grin. "A _transfer student _are we, Ryūko-chan? You must be quite the clever one, the tests to transfer are harder than the entrance exams. How did you even manage to _take _that test from Tokyo?"

Tests? Exams? What the hell was she talking about? All I knew about school revolved around a desert and weapons; there wasn't anything about _tests _in that sort of curriculum. Aside from tests like "If a bullet travels at 80 meters per second, how fast do you need to swing your sword to block it?"

The answer, as I'd found out, rather painfully, was 'faster'.

"I-I don't remember! Can I just _go_, please?"

The smile grew even wider on her face. "Ryūko-chan, did you know you _blush _when you're angry? I couldn't believe it at first buuuuut… you're shy, aren't you?"

I could feel how red my face was turning, and immediately shifted towards looking away from the pink-haired girl who had decided she was my escort or _something_. Didn't she have work?

"I am _not _shy," I replied with the harshest tone I could muster. "I just don't like talking to people, alright?"

She giggled, a low rough sound that sent a shiver crawling slowly up my spine. "Ryūko-chan, don't you know what we call that? We call it being s-h-yyyyyyy~"

I made a strangled sound in my throat, and turned back to retort, but the girl was already walking away. "See you at school, Ryūko-chan! Maybe you'll even join _my _club! We've got the best sounds in the city!"

I was confused, frustrated, and absolutely baffled by my first encounter in Honnou City. Nobody should be that nice, that open, in a dictatorship. Nudist Beach had taught me that - in an enclosed location where everyone was competing with one another, there were always a select few who were above the rest. The so-called 'elite' who looked down on everyone else with scorn and derision, and laughed at the meagre attempts from those under them to strive for any spot at all in the hierarchy - even if there was little to no chance they could manage it.

Honnou City was certainly… _different_, from the Beach and what I'd seen during missions. But as I stared up at another set of massive walls with a cut in between them and a small staircase, all I could think about was how at _ease _I felt compared to anywhere else I had ever been.

That girl hadn't been kidding when she'd said the slums were disgusting. I'd seen better living conditions when I was a newly minted recruit at the Beach. A stench of unwashed skin and dirty clothes was permeating through the air, and buildings were stacked closely together like a tower of blocks made by a small child. Everywhere I looked was rust and the slow death of a city, dilapidated buildings and crumbled walls; a sure sign of degradation in this place.

My jaw clenched, and I tightened my grip on my case as I walked forward - _this _was why I was part of Nudist Beach. To prevent anyone from ever living like this. Nobody deserved to wallow in such filth and absolute misery just because someone higher up said that this was the acceptable level of poverty for Honnou City.

But even as I stared at a slowly breaking house, with a roof that was only half attached, the words that the pink haired girl said came back to me - _nobody deserves to live there. _

So why was anyone there in the first place? Everything I'd heard pointed to things like these slums, filled with the broken and hopeless masses, being the norm of places like Honnou City. But, despite how worn-down and shattered these homes were, people still _lived _in them. It didn't make sense in my mind; I couldn't reconcile the picture the Beach painted of the populace with what my eyes told me.

I walked past a family of four, with the mother happily chatting away at her husband as he roared with laughter at something she said, their two children looking around as they walked, like this was _normal. _It wasn't fair, how pleased they were with their positions in life. I wanted to run to them, to shake them and _scream _at the injustice of it all, but I couldn't even bring myself to turn around.

Because they were pleased. They saw their lot in life, and they seemed to take it in stride - nowhere else I'd been had anyone ever looked so content living in squalor. What was it about this city, that made everyone so… so… different, from everywhere else?

I looked upwards, towards the massive tower in the center of the city, piercing straight towards the heavens themselves like a sword pointing to the sky. The ruler of the city - Kiryūin Satsuki - was it because of her that these people were so pleased with their _lack _of power?

Maybe it was something different. Thoughts whirled through my head as I attempted to piece together this bizarre puzzle that was Honnou. My feet kicked up small clouds of dirt that floated aimlessly around me as I walked towards what I was fairly certain was my destination while I stared downwards, not willing to meet the gaze of any of the people who wanted for so little, but seemed to care for so _much._ There was something off about this city, but I just couldn't place my fingers on the pulse of what it was.

I stumbled for a moment as someone rudely slammed into me, and I looked up with a glare. "Can I _help _you with something?" I hissed out, my eyes narrowing dangerously as I took in the man.

He was tall. Not enormously so, but he was certainly taller then I was - as were his two companions, all of whom looked down on me with broad grins and something dangerous glinting in their eyes. I knew what this _probably _was, and it granted me a little bit of relief. Honnou City had just become a little bit less strange for me. If it had people like this, it couldn't be that incredible.

"Hmmmm…" The speaker was a man, who stood with a slouch in front of his two followers, wearing no shirt as he showed off his numerous scars, and he had a red bandana tied around his neck. He stroked his bearded jaw for a moment as he idly tapped a foot that had no shoe on it, before he nodded as a sinister grin grew on his face. "Yeah. Ya can give me all your money, or you can cry as we slit that pretty li'l throat a yours - an' maybe a few more things as well, see?" He waggled his eyebrows suggestively, and I raised one of my own.

This was what I'd expected from Honnou City - but I'd been prepared for it to happen much sooner, and certainly not with someone like _this._ Maybe a security guard, or someone who had come to check on the new entry to the city, and I'd have had to take them out to prevent discovery. Or even just a man down on his luck, desperate enough to kill for some cash. Even a Burnout would have been more logical in this city.

The interaction was… too _normal. _It fit Osaka, or New Tokyo, but certainly not Honnou. Honnou was the center of what amounted to a _military_ academy, where clothes were your weapon and a single student could fight on par with ten of the Beach's foot soldiers. It felt artificially realistic, compared to the visceral truth of the world - these muggers were being arrogant beyond belief in assaulting me in this city.

My lips curled into a grin as I cracked my neck. This was going to be not only fast and fun, but pretty damn _relaxing _after talking to that pink haired girl. "Sure, I'll give you my cash. How about I leave it oh, I don't know… on a roof?"  
I threw my case in the air and weaved to the left, feeling the wind from Bandana's fist brush past my cheek as I slid low to the ground, sweeping my leg underneath his feet. With a satisfying thunk, he fell to the ground - but that wasn't enough. If you wanted to be _strong _you had to make it so your enemies didn't want to get back up.

I smashedmy elbow into his lower leg, and he let out a bloodcurdling scream as I felt something inside his give way underneath my own strength. The two men were advancing towards me - a bit cautiously. Naturally, after I'd so easily broken their leader down.

Hopping back a step, I grabbed my case from the air, spinning it casually on a finger as I eyed the two men. One was darker-skinned, with a jagged scar running over his lips, carved upwards like a twisted smile. _That _made my eyes narrow. He wasn't an ordinary mugger. Nobody with a scar like that could be _ordinary _- there were very specific reasons for carving that into a man's face.

He was a sellout - he'd given information away about a gang to the people they'd least want to have it - a conglomerate. He'd done it for money, but clearly it hadn't been enough, if he was hanging around Bandana.

I didn't want to save him for last, but I didn't really have a choice. Anyone who had sold out to a conglomerate had at least some knack for staying alive, and I didn't see anything in his hands. Nothing was more dangerous than a man with no weapons, but _those _scars. I'd seen the devastation Teach could wreak with just his fists, and he wouldn't sell out, no matter what the men on the Council said.

I took a deep breath, debating if I should pull out _that _weapon. It would definitely catch some attention, and it was risky as all hell, but if I took them down quick enough it shouldn't be much of a problem.

Inhale through the nose. Exhale through the mouth. It was important to be loose when you were attempting something this stupid. My lips let out a quiet noise as I expelled all the air from my lungs, and then I _lunged _forward, watching as the sellout's eyes widened in surprise, and his companion reached towards his pocket - idiot. I could already see what he was going for, and my right arm was a blur in the air as I threw the case towards him.

His eyes widened in horror as he realized what my plan was, and he didn't have the speed to move out of the way before the case landed on his face with a sickening crunch, and I turned my attention towards the dark-skinned sellout, who just winked at me as he pulled his weapon - straight off his back.

"You've gotta be kidding me," I hissed as I slid to the left of him to grab my case, watching in horror as the broadsword he'd been hiding came crashing down towards me. I felt a searing pain on my left side as it cut through my atrocious jacket - and a sense of relief, as it was now irrevocably _ruined_. Red ran down my arm, that hot and sticky wetness of blood coating it easily as I grabbed the case with right arm.

Half useless, against someone who knew what they were doing, and, as always, _completely _outmatched. I smiled dangerously as I stared at him, taking in his features fully for the first time. He was incredibly thin, almost gaunt-like, with his skin sticking close to his face, and I watched in mild disgust as his lips attempted to widen into a grotesque smile; it opened those scars on his face as well, and I could almost see to the _bone._ It was a scare tactic, and it would have worked on someone who didn't have extensive combat experience.

Unfortunately for him, I did. I reached with my left hand towards the two straps on my metal case, opening them with a soft _click_. It was only fair to bring a sword to a sword fight.

But I never got the chance. A voice, shaky as it was, yelled at the man with all the high pitched authority it could muster; which wasn't very much. "Th-that's _enough! _You can't just go around mugging whoever you want, and if you do then I, Nagita Shinjirō, will definitely stop you!"

Both the sellout and I looked at the speaker, who was standing a couple feet behind the man.

My 'savior', was in a word, inadequate. He had on a grey uniform that clearly marked him as a student, but without any of those legendary stars that signified him as an important member of the Academy. With hair so dark-gray that it was easily misidentified as black, he could have pulled off a delinquent look. If it wasn't for the glasses. And the scrawny arms, shakily holding a _wooden sword, _of all things - what the hell was he going to do with that, break it over their heads?

He had a thin, if determined looking face, with hair covering his left eye - it was probably a different color, or where he kept some implants. Whatever, I'd seen stranger haircuts.

"Get out of here, Nagita," I said, keeping my eyes on the thug with the broadsword. "I can handle myself."

"I refuse! As a member of Honnouji Academy's Street Cleaning Committee, and the head of the Newspaper Club, I cannot simply l-let injustice p-pass me by! Don't worry citizen, I-I will surely save you!" He attempted to keep his voice steady, but I heard a high pitched break halfway through that made me feel embarrassed for him. I exchanged a pitied look with the sellout I was fighting, who nodded in empathy at me.

How strange, that no matter where you went, authority figures were always almost offensively _stupid._

I relocked my case with my fingers, enjoying the snapping sound that it made as the adrenaline that had been pumping through began to fade. Nagita Shinjirō had saved me from a fight, but it was one I gladly would have picked. The sellout sheathed his broadsword, beginning to swiftly walk past me.

"Just because you got lucky this time, doesn't mean you'll be lucky forever. The Beach _will _take its cut."

I barely prevented myself from freezing in place and becoming far more suspicious than the man who just left - the _Beach? _As in, Nudist Beach? What the hell were muggers doing throwing our name around like that; we were a secretive terrorist organization, not a _club._ You couldn't just walk up and join, there were tests and trials and layers of secrecy surrounding Nudist Beach - why was he so carelessly dropping that name?

But I had more important things to worry about right now, like the black-haired boy who sagged with relief in front of me as the sellout walked away. "Th-that's right! And don't you ever come back around here, alright?!"

I looked over at him, arching an eyebrow. "What was that all about? I was doing fine on my own."

"I-it's the duty of the Street Cleaning Committee to try and prevent any and all crimes in process, in order to help save the city from the criminals who seek to undermine it! And if you're who I think you are, then you're going to be an _amazing _story for the Newspaper Club as well!" His visible eye lit up excitedly, and I tilted my head to the side - what was he talking about?

"Hm? Story?" I asked, staring at him quizzically as I took off my jacket, throwing it over my shoulder with my now useless left arm, watching him flinch away at the sight of my blood. "Didn't know there was a story about me."

"What? Are you _crazy?! _You're the transfer student - do you know how _hard _it is to even take the entrance exams when you live in the city? And you did it in another district! That's _amazing_, Miss…?" he paused for a moment, replacing his wooden sword in a makeshift sheathe as he pulled out a paper and pen, waiting for me to answer just like that girl had. Names, names, names, that's all it was up here.

I missed the Beach, where it was just all down to numbers. Who saved the most, who killed the most, and who _bled _the most. It was easier.

"Matoi," I said, still tasting the word on my tongue. It reminded me of fire and danger, of things that I doubted I'd see much of - if _any _- in this abnormal city. "Matoi Ryūko."

"...Matoi-san! You must let me get an interview with you, I'll do _anything _for one! I swear, it'll be quick and easy! Just let me tell your story to the public - how you get here, what its like in the outside world - that's all!"

My story? I was born underground and my entire being was _forged _in conflict. I couldn't remember a time where I hadn't been in some sort of danger, or at least in a fight. Every day was a different battle, and returning was just as much of a struggle as leaving. I was the type of person who _craved _that sort of danger, and I was an incompetent liar. What would I tell him, that I came from Neo Tokyo, where the Samurai stalked the streets with their metal bodies and steel swords? I'd never even been to Neo Tokyo, let alone met one of the Samurai. Tokyo was a different story altogether.

But nobody came from Tokyo except the dead and the dying. So that was out too.

I clicked my tongue off the roof of my mouth, tapping my foot as I looked at Nagita's excited face. "Alright, Nagita," I began, before he cut me off immediately.

"Please! We have fought together, and all my comrades call me _Shinji_! Matoi-san, you too can address me by that name!" The amount of energy he put into his every word exhausted me. How could one person have so much spirit every time they spoke?

Speeders didn't count. They were walking the fine line between flying high and burning out.

"...Nagita," I said, staring at him ruthlessly as I saw him _think_about protesting. "I'll give you an interview - if you can show me where the Kuwabara KuwaBara is."

He nodded rapidly, and turned around and walked out the alley I had walked into, making me curse under my breath as I followed him. This city would be the death of me, I just knew it. The winding paths leading to my contact's bar were almost impossible to navigate; how did Teach even get information _out _of the city? I had trouble just getting _in._

Nagita chattered on endlessly, with just as much excitement as when we'd first met, and I tried to make noncommittal noises of agreement. Other people drained me, especially people like Nagita and that girl from before - they just had too much spirit and energy for me to bother with for extended periods of time, and the walk to the bar that my contact ran was taking far too long.

"...And that's how I discovered the secret to how our math teacher beat his coke addiction! It was a truly inspiring story, and one that I can never publish, for fear of our teacher's divine and utmost punishment upon revelation of his darkest secret!" He nodded furiously, before looking at me with a dangerous eye. "And you are now sworn to secrecy as well, Matoi Ryūko! You can never tell anyone this, no matter how much they beg and cajole, do you understand?!"

"...Perfectly, Nagita. Is that the bar?" I pointed at a building with a glowing neon sign, and he hesitated a moment, before nodding.

"Yes, that's the bar. But be warned, Matoi-san! The owner is a bit… _eccentric._"

Whatever. Whoever owned the bar couldn't be worse than Nagita "let me tell you the story of why the farm has four hundred and _six _kilometers of field instead of four hundred and _sixty _six." I had doubts any single person could be that bad.

I entered the bar, and let the sound pulse through my veins as I closed my eyes for a moment, feeling the throb of the beat pulse with my heart, and vivid lights dance across my skin, like my own personal light show. My body relaxed, and I sighed as I walked towards the bar and slumped into a chair. It had been an _extremely _long day, and I was about ready for bed. I let my head loll onto the hard wood without a care in the world, and felt my eyelids flutter shut. The music beat in unison with my aching body, and I was ready to let it lull me to that peaceful land called sleep, before I was so rudely interrupted.

"My, my! If it isn't our little Ryūko-chan, _aaaaaall _grown up!"

My eyes flicked open before a moment, looked up, and immediately closed again. There was no way that she would be the contact. Nobody would possibly be stupid enough to make her my contact - they knew how poorly I got on with her. Then again, I doubted the Council even knew my real _name_, let alone what my interpersonal relations were like. As I felt a hand ruffle my hair and a lilting voice sing softly into my ear, I already knew that who it was, even if I didn't want to believe it

_KK39, _or as she was better know, Kinigase Kinue, the newest head researcher on Life Fibers at Nudist Beach.

My head stayed on the hard mahogany of the bar, and I could feel the movement of bottles from the other side as I pretended to be asleep, those faint murmurs of noise that were barely audible underneath the neverending drumbeat that echoed in my ears. Why were people even in the bar? it was around two in the afternoon, and the sun still shone high in the sky outside, compared to in here where there was nothing but flickering neon and the thrum of music.

"Ryūko-chaaaaaaaaan, we haven't spoken in _ages_! You can't just pretend to be asleep like you always do when my little brother manages to get you to come out for dinner!"

I slowly raised my head with a groan, and looked at the woman before me. She was wearing a red striped black corset underneath a faded white lab coat, covered in stains, and grinned at me mischievously behind messy hair that was so dark a blue it was almost black. Her eyes twinkled in amusement as I slumped to the side to look at her from my position on the bar stool, my right arm laying haphazardly across the countertop as I rested my head on it. "Is there something you need, Kinagase?"

I was tired. My body ached. I wanted to lay down on a bed, and watch as the world _vanished _around me. But even so, Kinagase Kinue, for all her flair and laughs, was my superior. That meant that I had to listen to her, however reluctantly - she was my only connection to the outside world in Honnou City; unless Teach hadn't defected, in which case she was one of all of the _two _people I could trust. I wasn't exactly stumbling my way into friendships here, and I couldn't lose one of the few I did have.

"Hmmmm…" The blue-haired woman tapped her finger on her chin for a moment, biting her lip as she thought, and I closed my eyes for a brief moment, entertaining the idea of taking a nap on her counter as she rambled to herself, but her enthusiasm was _infectious_. Whether it was the pumping beat of the music that was around me, or the excited way she rambled, I found myself unable to sleep. The lure of closed eyes and dreams didn't seem to mean much next to my thoughts, to the city I found myself in.

"Weeeeeeeell, Ryūko-chan, what do you think of your new home? You've walked around it a little bit, give me your first impressions!" She smiled brightly, leaning over the bar countertop to stare down at me as she spoke, and I paused for a moment, biting my lip.

What did I think of the city?

There were so, so many things for me to say. It was different on a fundamental level from the only other city I'd spent an extended amount of time in - Honnou City and the Beach were so completely and utterly _separated _from each other that it was hard for me to start to explain how I felt about them. The people, the open smiles, the paranoia and that everpresent weight over my head at the Beach - the grim reminders of our situation - they were gone. It was like they didn't even exist in Honnou City.

The people here smiled. The only anger I'd seen since I'd entered the city was someone who claimed to be part of the Beach, with those two scars mirrored on his face like a ghastly piece of art. How is it, that this city could feel so… so… free, when they were under the thumb of a ruler?

Even the Beach, with all of its freedom, had _rules. _Regulations. And none of those could easily circumvented. Even if you were free, you were under their thumb. You couldn't go running off, and you certainly couldn't do as you please. And you knew it - everyone knew it. All the freedom that Nudist Beach offered, it required _something. _A sacrifice. An exchange between the two parties - you and them. How could any city, anything, operate without that?

"Kinagase… is… is this…" I stumbled over my words as I stared up at her, my eyes surely clouded with worry. My introduction to Honnou City was fast and concise, but I couldn't comprehend what I'd seen. "Is this really a bad place to live?"

The sentence fell from my mouth as softly as rain does from the sky, and the woman gave me a pitying smile as my eyes widened in shock at my sheer _arrogance_, my stupidity at telling the head researcher at Nudist Beach that my heart was harboring dissent against the organization. But her eyes were calm and serene, like the wind before a storm, and she idly brushed a stray strand of hair out of my eyes as she looked into them with that small smile.

"Ryūko-chan, it's not that simple," she said quietly, her finger tracing the curves in my hair as she spoke. "It's different, but that doesn't mean it's better. New Tokyo was different, wasn't it? Would you want to live there?"

I shook my head, feeling uncomfortable as my hair tickled the crook of my arm, and she smiled a little bit wider at the act. I felt like a little girl again, stumbling over wires in her workshop as she laughed and explained to me what was going on in the room, and how all the instruments worked together in unison.

"I can't convince you of what your heart says, but I can tell you what mine does. This city seems nice on the surface, but… it's dirty, all the way to the core. People live content in the slums, Ryūko-chan, but have you ever looked at the _sky?_ Have you seen that towering building, with all those high walls, so far out of reach?" She spoke with a calm intensity, and her eyes burned like fire as the frustration mounted inside of her. "That's what this city really is. It's not about working your way up, or striving for excellence. You can't _become _part of that place, you always _were _a part of it, or you'll never truly reach it."

She sighed, staring up at the neon lights of her bar, and I looked with her, watching the purple and pink flicker and shiver, like a dancer preparing for her next movement. And I suppose in a way, I understood what she was talking about. I could never be as strong as some people, I could never be as clever or as fast as others. And when you watched people high above your station, all you had left were dreams.

And everyone wondered what it would be like - to really touch the sky. But not the woman in that tower, so far above me and the others that were in these slums. Kiryūin Satsuki had seen what the world offered her, and wanted more, more than anyone else. The only difference between her and those in the slums was that she had the ability to take it, and she had seized that chance with everything she could.

It wasn't fair. But I couldn't bring myself to believe my own thoughts as well as I used to - everytime I thought I had a grasp on the idea of this city, a pink-haired girl and the shaky, determined hands of a boy in glasses appeared in my mind, dancing around in my eyes, everything they had said rotating around in my mind. And that was the worst part, I couldn't _believe _in what Kinagase Kinue, a woman who had taken care of me since before I could walk, was saying. I heard the heart in her voice, the iron in her words and the fire in her eyes, but then I saw the soft smile of a girl offering me an apple, and another voice popped into my head.

_What if it's a lie?_

Not the city. Not the Beach. Just, everything. I'd learned at an early age that people lie, that the only person you could trust in was yourself. But the world didn't allow you to believe in yourself. You could believe in a corporation, in your sword, or in others, but _never _yourself. You could be tricked, or otherwise misdirected, and then what did you have to trust in?

Zip. Zero. Nothing. And that was the worst part of it, no matter how hard, how desperately I wanted to believe in Kinagase, all I could think about was if she was wrong. My heart stopped at the idea, but I wanted oh-so desperately for it to be true. For there to be a place in the world where you _could _climb above your station. It might be grueling and bitter, but it was possible, and that was more than I could say for any other city in the world.

"Yeah," I said out loud, responding far too late and sounding far too distracted, even to my own ears, "You're… you're right. Thanks, Kinagase."

The name rolled off the tongue easily, and Kinagase ran a hand through my hair, laughing quietly. Her laugh was like bells and light, easy and free to listen to, a calming sound as I smiled up at the woman who had taken care of me for most of my life. "It's fine, Ryūko-chan. Everyone, no matter who they are, has a moment like that. Just remember why you're here, alright? It's not to sightsee, its to go to school!"

For a moment, I'd forgotten what my objective was, and I felt something drop into my stomach as I swallowed saliva that wasn't there moments ago. "S-school? What do you mean?"

"Ryūko-chaaaaaaaaan," she drew out the last syllable of the honorific far too long, and looked at me with serious eyes that didn't fit with her mocking tone. "Don't tell me you forgot already! You have to go to school! Make friends, join a club, see your teachers! The usual school things - are you _really _that tired?"

Her eyes were calculating and far too stern now, and something inside of me broke. If Kinagase had said that, then that meant...

I slowly lifted myself off the bar, my chest aching and my heart heavy. I stared down the crack between the table and my chair, watching my feet dangle below me, unable to voice a response. I had forgotten, she was _right._ I'd been in a daze of ironclad disbelief, acting like an idiot instead of an operative.

The reason I was here - it had nothing to do with my thoughts, or my opinions on the city. My objective, or at least my current assignment, had nothing to do with either of those two things. Those were just obstacles that were in the way of my mission, and my mission was the _reason_I'd brought my weapon here at all, instead of just using what Kinagase surely would have provided.

I had to find out if we had been betrayed. If Teach had turned on us - then I would have to kill him. I'd killed before, but it was always people who I barely knew, or who had only spoken with a handful of times. They were the types that I'd always kept at arms length or further, comrades and 'partners', though I hesitate to call them even that, instead of someone like Teach.

I'd half fancied, half believed, this was still a test. That once I got to the city, Kinagase would laugh at my worries, tousle my hair with that brilliant smile, and show me where Teach was living so I could go and meet up with one of the few people who I could be truly _open _with. I would have stayed with him, and he'd have scoffed at my worries, giving me one of his speeches about loyalty and trust, and how resentful he was that I hadn't believed him.

But that wasn't going to happen. In Kinagase's eyes - in Nudist Beach's eyes - my longest friend and sole mentor was a _traitor _to the cause. And if Teach was guilty; as small a chance as that was, as little as I wanted to _believe _he was... there was no way he'd come back willingly. And even if he _had_, they'd never have trusted him with such an assignment again.

And if there was nothing left for Teach there, there was very little reason for him to give a damn about my stupid opinion. I was just the little girl he'd told not to worry when he left five years ago, I doubted he'd care if I told him that what he was doing was wrong. He had always been content in his own mind, far more than I was in mine.

"...Right," I said softly, standing up from my chair. I had suddenly lost any appetite for conversation, even if Kinagase was someone who I could normally speak with for quite some time. I didn't feel like, or care enough to attempt to understand what she was telling me about the city, or my duty, or my _purpose _at the Beach. I knew what I was, and I was comfortable with it.

I just wasn't comfortable with the idea of what I had to do now, of what she had told me I _needed _to accomplish.

"Is," I faltered, my words catching in my throat. "Is there anywhere I can sleep? I haven't had any plans made out, so-"

She cut me off, smiling brightly. "Ryūko-chan, I'm offended you'd even _ask! _Second door to the right, go all the way to the back."

My head nodded almost mechanically, and I left that pulsating music and neon lights, opening a creaky wooden door, and blinking as it shut behind me, and my eyes were forced to readjust to the almost surreal normality of wood and light fixtures. The corridor I was in was rather long, but simply adorned - with no pictures or windows, just doors leading to other rooms. The Kuwabara KuwaBara presumably doubled as an inn for travelers and people who could afford it, and I'd assumed that was where the majority of her money came from. A soft snore that came from behind one of the doors half confirmed it, and I walked slowly, staring at each door as I made my way to the back.

I suddenly stopped beside one of the doors; something about it made my mind twitch with curiosity, and I had no idea why. The door was different from the rest - this one was made of metal, rather than wood, and when I brushed my fingers on it, it was cold; cold like new snow after a long autumn, like the far off countries where it was a never-ending winter. It made me interested, and I reached for the handle, turning it slowly. The door opened a crack, and my eyes widened in shock at what I saw, before I hastily closed the door as I heard a voice speak to me, turning like a whip to face it.

"There's nothing in there." Kinagase's voice was soft, but she looked at me with hard eyes. "It's just an old dusty room."

"O-of course," I responded, but my eyes flickered over to the door anyways. "I was just wondering why the door was different, that's all."

Kinagase hesitated for a moment, before shaking her head. "It… It's not important, Ryūko-chan. That room - there's nothing good behind that door. Just trust me on this, alright?"

I nodded, hesitantly, as I looked at her. She smiled brilliantly, grabbing my hand as she waltzed by me, her pace far too quick for me to be prepared for. I stumbled at first, before somehow managing to stick with her.

"Don't worry Ryūko-chan, your room is _perfect! _There's the softest bed and a closet - oh and the view! Gorgeous, Ryūko-chan, absolutely gorgeous! You'll love it, I promise!"

I smiled, but it was a garish, nasty thing that I was grateful Kinagase was too busy chattering to look at it closer. I wasn't really paying attention, and as the door opened and I walked into my room, all I could do was glance back at that metal door, and the _thing _that was behind it.

I'd only gotten a glimpse.

Only a glimpse.

And that was the most terrifying part of it - I hadn't seen much. But what I had seen, it was as black as a starless night and shaking with the sort of uncontrolled fury of a true monster, of something that you'd meet in Tokyo. The rage and hate of the dead and the damned, that sort of unforgettable anger that never truly leaves you. In that single brief moment, I'd felt terror beyond anything I'd ever experienced. It seeped deep into my mind, coating my entire being in a film of fear that I was having trouble freeing myself of. Even as I laid down in the bed, covering myself with those soft blankets, I shivered.

It had no face that I could see. It was chained to something, I knew that much - nothing that angry would stay in there of its own free will. But why had Kinagase lied about it? She clearly knew something was back there, and she must have known that I'd seen it.

Even if it was only a glimpse. Only the briefest second of a look, but there was something inside that room. Something that had a mind of its own, and had no qualms about what happened to anything around it. Something dangerous that Kinagase had locked away. And I knew one fact, one singular, terrifying fact about it.

It wanted to get _out_.

* * *

Tempera beta'd for me. She's CyganAngel on SpaceBattles, and writes a super good RWBY AU! You should go read it!


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